diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-executable-task.yml b/.github/workflows/build-executable-task.yml
index 2c38f29f..f8651d7c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-executable-task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-executable-task.yml
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ jobs:
             -property:PackageVersion=${{ needs.get-version.outputs.SemVer2 }}
 
       # Branch-suffixed so the publisher can build `main` and `develop` in one run without colliding on the name.
+      # Skipped on smoke: the aggregation job below is `!smoke`, so the per-runtime output has no consumer and would
+      # only burn artifact storage; smoke just needs the compile to succeed.
       - name: Upload matrix build artifacts step
+        if: ${{ !inputs.smoke }}
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6.0.0
         with:
           name: publish-${{ inputs.branch }}-${{ matrix.runtime }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-nugetlibrary-task.yml b/.github/workflows/build-nugetlibrary-task.yml
index 9b121d2a..7933c121 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-nugetlibrary-task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-nugetlibrary-task.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ on:
       branch:
         required: true
         type: string
+      # Smoke mode: build for validation only and skip the release-asset zip/upload. A PR smoke run has no consumer
+      # for the artifact (the github-release job is gated `!smoke`), so uploading it just burns artifact storage.
+      smoke:
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 jobs:
 
@@ -67,11 +73,14 @@ jobs:
             --skip-duplicate
 
       - name: Zip output step
+        if: ${{ !inputs.smoke }}
         run: 7z a -t7z ${{ runner.temp }}/NuGetLibrary.7z ${{ runner.temp }}/publish/*
 
       # GitHub-release asset, uploaded under the `release-asset-<branch>-*` pattern that the `github-release` job
       # collects. Branch-suffixed so the publisher can build both branches in one run without colliding on the name.
+      # Skipped on smoke: the github-release job is `!smoke`, so nothing would consume it.
       - name: Upload build artifacts step
+        if: ${{ !inputs.smoke }}
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6.0.0
         with:
           name: release-asset-${{ inputs.branch }}-nugetlibrary
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-pypilibrary-task.yml b/.github/workflows/build-pypilibrary-task.yml
index 3c5493de..c780c30c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-pypilibrary-task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-pypilibrary-task.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ on:
       branch:
         required: true
         type: string
+      # Smoke mode: build for validation only and skip the artifact upload. A PR smoke run has no consumer for the
+      # wheel/sdist (the publish-pypi job runs only on a real publish), so uploading it just burns artifact storage.
+      smoke:
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
     outputs:
       artifact-name:
         value: ${{ jobs.build-pypilibrary.outputs.artifact-name }}
@@ -104,8 +110,10 @@ jobs:
         run: uv build
 
       # Branch-suffixed so the publisher's branch matrix can build both branches in one run without colliding.
+      # Skipped on smoke: the publish-pypi job runs only on a real publish, so nothing would consume it.
       - name: Upload build artifacts step
         id: artifact-upload-step
+        if: ${{ !inputs.smoke }}
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6.0.0
         with:
           name: pypilibrary-build-${{ inputs.branch }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-release-task.yml b/.github/workflows/build-release-task.yml
index af3d782c..9f9924f8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-release-task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-release-task.yml
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ jobs:
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       # Push to NuGet.org, never on a smoke build.
       push: ${{ inputs.nuget && !inputs.smoke }}
+      # Skip the release-asset upload on smoke (nothing consumes it on a PR).
+      smoke: ${{ inputs.smoke }}
 
   # PyPI publishing happens in `publish-release.yml`, not here, so `id-token: write` is only granted at the
   # entry-point job; this workflow just builds and uploads the artifact for that job to download.
@@ -87,6 +89,8 @@ jobs:
       # Pin to the resolved commit so the artifacts match the release tag.
       ref: ${{ needs.get-version.outputs.GitCommitId }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+      # Skip the wheel/sdist upload on smoke (the publish-pypi job runs only on a real publish).
+      smoke: ${{ inputs.smoke }}
 
   build-executable:
     name: Build executable job